Bottle-washing machine.



H.,F.smcr BOTTLE WASHING MAcmNE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 14, I9I3.

Patented May 9,1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEETI o my mmeses.'

Ww IMM H. F. STOCK.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE APPLICATION FILED N0v.14,191a.

Patented May 9, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H. F. STOCK.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILEDNOV. I4 |913.

Patented May 9, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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H. F. STOCK.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE. APPLICATION man' Nov. t4, 1913.

Patented May 9,1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

merrain srarns ramena eration.,

HENRY F. STOCK, OF WAUKES, WISCONSEN, ASSIGNOR TO LADEWIG do' STOCK donnant, or wannnsna,

WISCONSN, A CORPORATION'QF WISCONSIN.

no'rrnnwesnrne MACHINE.

il ,ll $2,593., y

i Application filed November 1 To all whom t may concern Be it known that l, HENRY F. S'roon, a

citizen of the United States, residing .at

-. the manner to Waukesha, in the county of Waukesha andv State of Wisconsin, have invented certain vnewjand useful Improvements in Bottle- Washing Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the Y accompanying drawing, forming a part pany this specification and form a part hereof, which drawings illustrate an embodiment designate the'sameelements wherever they f may appear-inv side of the machine;

of this invention, and onwhich .drawings thesame reference characters are used to eachv of the several views, Figure lis an elevation of one side of the machine; Fig. 2 isv an elevation'of the otherv Fig. 3 is asectional elevation ofthe machine taken on the line Fig. .5g-Fig. 'l' is an elevation, partly in sectails of construction,

- section,- 40

" a-a on Fig. 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; Fig. 4 is a plan view of details of construction ;Fig. 5 is alongitudinal, vertical section of a combined water and air valve; Fig. 6 is a vertical, transverse section'of the same taken on the line b-b on and with parts broken away, of details is an elevation of departsbeing broken away; andlfig. 9 is an elevation, partly in and with parts broken away, the being taken on the line] o-c on tion, of construction; Fig. 8

section- Fig. 8.A

Referring specifically to the drawings,

' the machine is assembled on a suitable frame cial links 19. flhespeciallinks .19 have proposeseparate bottle carriages.

-1. l The'- .frame '.1 supports four shafts 2, 3,

4' andv 57upon which are sprocket wheels 6, 7, 8, 9, 1,0, 11, 12and13 upon which the endless chains 14 and 15 travel to carry the bottles to be washed.' 'llhesechains are preferably of the roller type land are composed of rollersl, axles 17, plain links 18 and 'spejecting lugs 20 toi *which are secured bars 2land a plurality of bottle Asupports 22 to com- The bottle supports 22 are funnel-shaped and may be Specification of Letters Patent.

the conveyer 'conveyer is intended 'Pawl 39 isengaged with g plate 38 a't alltimes except when released to Patented May 9, :42163;

4, 1913. Serial No. 800,895.

lined with vrubber cushions to protect the bottles. rlhe chains 14 and 15 with the bottle carriages constitute a conveyer for the bottles. rlhis conveyer is movedforward intermittently in al step-by-step movement by the spring-pressed pawl 23 which works with the ratchet wheel 24 secured to shaft 2. f Pawl 23- is pivotally mounted upon rocker 25 which is loosely supportedon shaft 2.and rocked by link 26 connected to .crank 27 on shaft 28. 4 Shaft 29 is ates the machine.,

the power. shaft which oper,- llt is provided with a worm 30 `which drives worm wheel 31 on shaft 32, on which is spur gear'33 meshing On shaft 2 is a lock plate 38 in the nature of a double acting ratchet wheel with the notches in which a pawl 39, pivoted tothe frame 1,-' engages tov prevent movements of in either direction when unsymmetrically loaded to remain at rest. a notch inthe lock with bottles and while thepermit, av forward movement ofthe conveyer pawl 39 must have a and, consequently,

the working movement timed release with of pawl 23. To eiect such timed release, a

crank 40 is secured to shaft 28 and is provided with 'a pin 41' adapted to contact with and'elevate the free end of a lever'42 pivoted vto the frame 1. A link 43 connects lever .42 and pawl 39 to lift the weight 44 and rock the pawl aboutits pivot in a manner which will be readily understood from an inspection of Fig. 1 of the drawings.

lnclines v45 and 46 are provided at the loading end of the machine and other inclines 47 and 48 are provided at the unloadmachine to lead the conveyer for supplying bottles ing end of the at convenient angles thereto 'or removing track members, designated character 49, are provided chains 14 and 15 to preserve the alineinent bottles therefrom and by, the reference of the chains, to prevent vibrations and totake the loads and strains od from the sprocket wheels and .their shafts.

The inclines 45 and 46 at' the loading end 4`of the machine lead the conveyer ata` confor feeding bottles by hand or venient angle by any suitable automatic `feeding mechanism to the conveyer and the molines 4'? and for the rollers of lll@ 7o i with gear 34 on shaft 35. Shaft 35 drives shaft 28 by means of the gears 36 d 37.

48 at the unloading end of the machine lead the conveyer at a convenient angle for removing the bottles from Y hand. If desired, however, the bottles may be discharged automatically from theI machine by arraingingany suitable device to receive the bottles as they pass with the con- .Veyer from a position in -which they are re-` tained in the bottle supports 22 to a position where they will ports 2-2. j,

The reference numeral 221 designatesza device to receive the bottles as they are automatically `discharged from the conveyer and the device, as lhownrcomp'rises an inclined plate 'on which the bottles are received and from which they may be permitted to slide into any suitablevreceptacle or from which they may be removed in any suitable manner by hand or mechanism.

The machine is primarily intended for washing and cleansingy the interiors of bottles and the bottlesjare inserted, with their necks' down, in the individual bottle supports 22. rlhe 'bottlesare moved forward intermittently by the step-by-step move? ments of' the conveyer and in certain posi` tions, and while the bottles are at rest, the bottles are centered and clamped, nozzles (and brushes, if desired)- are inserted in bottles, the washing and cleansing agent, or agents, is admitted to bottles for a period, the nozzles are then withdrawn from the bottles, the bottles are unclamped and the pawl 23 moves the conveyer forward another stepfor another cleansing operation.

With the machine, as illustrated, each bot-j'` tle may be subjected to the washing o1" e cleansing operation three times, or only two times as later described, but, of course, the number of timesthe bottles are subjected to the washingor cleansing operation is merely 54 and l55. rllhe lower cross 68, 69,70 and 71 which ported ,from the' frame 1.

a matter of selection and convenience.- Ordinarily` bottles are soaked before being washed and cleansed on nd in practice' that'two washings, or the use of two sets ,of nozzles, is all that is necessary'to thoroughlycle'anse bottles no matter how dirty lthey may be. The preceding statement is, of course, intended to applyv only to beer, mineral 'water and such bottles and not to`bottles which have contained oils, gums or such substances as cannot ordinarily be washed away by water.

rlhe bottle clamping mechanism, as shown for operatingl upon three rows of bottles at a time, consists ,of threeupper cross beams 50,51 and 52 and three lower cross beams 53,

zontal beams`62 vand- 63 whichv iii -tu'rn are hung by links 64, 65, 66 and 67 from levers are pivotally sup- These levers are provided with counter-weights 7 2, 73, 7 4 and the machine by slide out .of the bottle supthe machine and T beams l.are hung by links 566158,59, eo and e1 from horimechanism is adapted to clamp and nut-holder beams 76 and 77 are sus-y pended from them by links 78, 79, and 81.

Screws 82, 83, 84 and 85 engage with nuts secured to the nut-holder beams and support the upper cross beams 50, 51 and 52 by means of the tie-beams- 86 and 87. The screws 82, 83, '84 and 85 are rotatable with respect to the tie-beams 86 and 87 so asto lmove said tie-beams and the upper cross vbeams 50, 5l and 52 secured thereto and carried thereby toward or away from the nutholder beams 76 and 77 to adjust the cla-mping mechanism to bottles of different lengths as pints vand quarts, for example.y The' screws 82, 83, 84 and 85 can be rotated in unison by thehand wheel 88 through the shafts 89 and 90, sprocket sprocket chain 93, and gears 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, and 101 in a manner which will be readily understood from an inspection of the drawings. Because the upper cross beams 50, 51 and 52 and the lower cross beams 53, 54 and 55 of the clamping mechanism are .connected tothe levers 68, 69, 70 and 71 on opposite sides of their fulcra points, the 11p-- per cross beams will always move in the di- -rection opposite to the movement of the lower cross beams.Y 'In other words, these two sets'of beams will either approach each other or recede from each other, the action being similar to the opening and closing movements of the jaws of a pair of pliers having parallel movements of the jaws. Thus the'upper and lower vcross. beams constitute Vclamping jaws between which the bottles are clamped and securely held while they are being washed or, cleansed. MAS-bottles are fragile and are apt to dier slightly in. length evenwhen they are of the same market size, as quarts for example, the upper cross beams are provided with depending lingers 102 whichare free to move up and down with respect to. the cross beams and are yieldingly held in their lowermost -positions by spiral springs 103,., rlfhe lower ,cross beams carry funnel-shaped centering and clamping cups 104 through which the nozzles are guided and these cups are yield ingly supported by spiral springs 105. The

counterfweights 7,2, 73, 74 and 75 close theall clamping jaws, composed of the upper cross beams 50, 51 and 52 and the lower cross beams 53, 54 and 55 with the yieldable ngers 102 and the yieldable cups 104, upon the bottles so that the bottles are cushioned while the bottles are held between clampin jaws which are not clamped upon the bottles.

by any powendriven mechanism of the maf chine whereby the danger of breaking the bottles is obviatedf` j j Init-he 4machine' illustrated the clamping three rows of bottles at a time and in chine as the bottles first reach the clamping mechanism only one row of bottles `will be starting the ma` lao j r11-,reason in position to be clamped. This same condition might also happen when the machine is being operated and by accident one or more bottle carriages had not been supplied with bottles. Under such conditions, especially' if the upper cross beams 5 0, 51 and 52 were somewhat loose on their guides, a cross beam which was not supported by bottles might dropV far enough to cause the cross beam to bind onits guide. To avoid such a result and to insure equal movements of the upper cross beams, the pairs of levers 68, 69 and 7 0,'I 71 are geared together bythe gear segments 222, 223, 224 and 225 at the ends of the respective levers.

r1`he specific construction of the machine, as illustrated by the drawings, is provided with three cleansing-duid heads 106, 107 and V108 'and the middle head 107 is shown as provided with brushes 226 carried by revoluble nozzles 109 while the two end heads are not provided with brushes and their nozzles 110 are non-revoluble. The cleansing-fluid heads' are constructed to supplyboth water and compressedair to the nozzles and con.- sist of twochambered castings 111 and 112 bolted together with a diaphragm 113 between them. 'lhe nozzles are slidingly re- Y tained in tubular standards 114 closed by caps 115 against which the collars 116 on the nozzles are yieldingly held by springs 117. 1t sometimes happens that a bottle is` placed on the machine with its stopper in place or with some hard object in a bottle so heads bemg overbalanced by the counterthat a nozzle cannot enter the bottle and the I construction described prevents breakage of ra nozzle because 1f for any reason the upward movement of a nozzle is arrested its tubular standard 114 can still move upward to its eXtreme limit of movement while the nozzle remains stationary and compresses its drives thefwashng water from the bottles but also agitates the washing water in the bottles thereby facilitating the cleansing or the bottles.

Thecleansing-iuid heads 100, 107 and 108 are hung from horizontal beams 121 and 122 by links 123,124, 125, 120, 127 and 128 and lev'ers 129, 130, 131 and 132 are connected by links 133, 134, 135 and 136 with horizontal'beams 121 and l122. Weights 137,

138, 139 and 140 are adjustably secured to said levers for counterbalancing the weight ot the cleansing-Huid heads and nozzles, and

the levers arefkeyed, or`otherwise secured,

to shafts 141 and 142 so as to move 1n unison. The cleansing-fluid heads and nozzles are raised to insert the nozzles in bottles by the crank 143 on shaft 35 which rocks shafts 141 and 142 by means of the connecting rods 144 and 145and cranks 146 and 147. rlhe crank pin on crank 146 is received in a box 148 which is slidable inthe bifurcated end of connecting rod 144 and which isadapted to be contacted by the end of the adjustable screw 149 to rock shafts 141 and 142 and lift the cleansing-fluid heads and the nozzles in a manner which will be readily understood from an inspection of the drawings. This construction provides a lost motion connection between connecting rod 144 and crank 146. As the crank 143 is revolving continuously while the machine is in operation, th1s lost mot1on connection provides for a period of rest or a dwell of the cleansing-fluid heads when in their lowermost vpositions and the step-by-step movements of the conveyor and bottles take place during these periods of rest of the cleansing-fluid heads. By adjusting the screw 149 the lift of the cleansing-fluid heads (andthe nozzles carried thereby) can be properly proportioned for long or short bottles such as quarts or pints. The bottles are held in a substantially fixed position by the conveyor and the clamping mechanism and by screwing screw 149 in toward block 148"a "greater.jiit is given the cleansinglluid heads and ndzzlesrwhileirby screwing the said screw out oraway from block 148 a lesser lift is given the cleansing-Huid heads and nozzles.

To guard against the cleansing-fluid balance weights 137, 138, 139 and 140, the eect of which would be toA raise the cleansing-uid 'heads and nozzles at times when they are intended to remain in their lowermost positions, and to provide for the counterbalance weights 137 138, 139 and 140 being set tar enough out on their levers to balance the weight of the cleansing-fluid heads and the parts carried thereby with- 141 and 142 are provided with cranks 150 and 151 cbnnected by the connecting rod 152 to guard against torsional strains and possible uneven liitingo the opposite ends of' the cleansing-fluid heads.

-As hereinbefore explained, the clam inw" l p e.

jaws are 'closed upon the bottles by the" los weights 72, 73, 74 and 75, but the clamping 1S@ jaws are opened and 4said weights are elevated by the descent of the cleansing-duid heads through the medium of the rods 153, 154, 155 and 156 which pass through holes 5 in the horizontal beams 62 and`63 and are secured to said beams by nuts above" and below said beams as'clearly shown by the drawings. These rods 15.3, 154, 155 and 156.

also pass through holes in the` horizontal beams 121 and 122 and are provided with nuts below said beams only so that said beams can move up on said rods after the upward movement of the rods has been arrested by the fingers 102 and the clamping cups 104 9j. th clamping jaws coming in contact with bottles. This construction provides a lost motion connection between the clamping 'jaws and the power driven parts of the machine. 0f course the weights 72, 73, 74 and 75 cannot close the clamping jaws any faster than the horizontal beams 121 and 122 are lifted and the clamping jaws will be positively opened when the beams 121 and 122 in moving downcontact with the nuts on therods 153, 154, 155 and .156.

Guides 157, 158, 159, 160, 161 and 162 are provided for the upper cross beams 50, 51 and 52, the lower cross beams 53, 54 and 55 and the cleansing-Huid heads 106, 107 and 108. Stops 163, 164, 165, 166, 167 and 168 are provided below the cleansing-fluid heads to accurately determine the extent of their downward .movement as it is desired to` retain the upper ends of the nozzleswithin the bores of the clamping cups 104 after they have been withdrawn "from" the bottles. Stops 169, 170, 171 and 172 are located above the lower cross beams 53 and 55 which should be so adjusted that the clamping cups will just touch the mouths of the bottles in theory. In practice, however, the bottles can be lifted a little by the cupswithout causing them to tip enough in the bottle supports 22 to prevent the fingers 102 from contacting with them properly. Stops 173 and 174 arelocated below the lower cross beam 54 to support the same if it is disconnected from the horizontal beams 62 and 63. The middle, or. rotatable set of nozzles,-

can be cut out of operation if ldesired by disconnecting the* links 57 and 60 of the lower cross beam 54 from the horizontal beams 62 and 63 by the pins 175 and..176 and by disconnecting thelinks 124 and 127 of the cleansing-fluid head from the horizontal beams 121 and 122 bythe pins 177 and 178. When the machine is provided with. nozzles which carry brushes, it is sometimes desirable to discontinue the use of the brushes when bottles areto be washed or cleansed awhich do not require to be brushed.

Valves 179', 180 and 181 controlthe flow fof water and air to the respective cleansinget 'fluid heads 106, 107 and 108 and through provided. Fig. 7 of the drawings illustrates theWs'tandad--gu'ards lagair'lstthe possibility risate? the nozzles 'leading therefrom inter1nit.`

tently, timed with the elevated positions of the nozzles, by means of the valve-arms 182, 183 and 184 which are connected by the link 185 and which are operated in unison by 70 lever 132 through link or connect-ing rod 186 and crank 187. A lcollar 188 and nut189 permit movements of the connecting rod 186 in either direction as lever 132 moves. This i construction-provides a lost motion connec- 75 tion whichpermits a delayed opening and closingv of the valves so that they will not Vbe opened until the nozzles have entered the j mouths of. the bottles land need not be `closed until the nozzles are aboutto be withdrawn 8o from the mouths of the bottles.` lBy Withdrawingpin 190 valve 180 can be cut out of action when the rotatable 'nozzles and the. cleansing-fluid head 107 are cut out of action as hereinbefore described. The valves comprise a casing 191 with 'air 'passageway' 192 and water passageway 193 and .a bore intersecting these passageways which -is closed by the heads 194 and- 195 'j within which the valve stem 196 is receivedL The 90 boreV has a shoulder 197fa7giinst' whi`ch\af\f-r packing collar 198 on the valvel stem bears to make atight joint, the collar being retained against the shoulder by the screw 199' provided with the lock nut 200.; Within the passageways are located `the`valve-closure members 201 and 202 which partially elnbrace the valve stem and are held against .c their seats by springs 203 and 204, yall, as' .clearly shown by Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings.

1n order that the revoluble nozzles 109, which are shown as provided Vwith brushes, may be revolved by their tubular standards 114 a clutch mechanism is provided to clutch the standard and its nozzleltogether under normal conditions because the friction lof the brush in a bottle would hold the nozzle v stationary while its standard was being revolvedunless some such arrangement werellO a simple andeective clutch mechanism for this purpose. The upper part'Wof a collar 116 is squared or formed in some other suitable polygonal shape as designatedV by the l bottle and the uncoupling of the nozzlefrom of breakage. A

The revoluble standards v114 are secured to gears 205 which mesh and are revolved by they gear 206 .which'is driven' by the 130 ideate? sprocket wheel 215, chain 216 and sprocket wheel 217. v

v Compressed air is led to the valves 179, 180 and- 181 by the pipe 208 and water is led to the valves by. pipe 209. The air and the water are conducted to their respective chambers in the cleansing-fluidheadsy from the valves by separate flexible pipe or hose connections some of which show on the drawings and, for convenience, the water hose are designated by thel reference nu- -meral 210 and the air hoseiby the reference numeral 211.. A catch basin 218 receives the water discharged rom the bottles and this water may ow through` an voutlet 219 to a receptacle 220 from whichit may be conducted to any place desired.

` e ll have described a specific structure or machine l realize that numerous mechanical changes can be made in. some of the mechanisms described and illustrated and l do not limit myself to the specic structures illustrated and described by this specilication except where ll specically claim such `structures in the c aims annexed hereto.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Shaft 29 is continuously revolved'rom any suitable source of power. Bottles are placed in the bottle supports 22 at the charging end of the machine and removed at the discharging end ot the machine. All the` shafts and gears driven from shaft 29` are revolving continuously except the shafts and sprocket wheels thereon which carry the endless chain conveyor. Once in everyrevolution or gear 37 the pin d1 elevates lever L12 and disengages pawl 39trom lock plate 38 and while this pawl is disengaged from the lock plate pawl 23 moves the endless chain conveyer, and

Y thereby, forward one step. During this movement et the conveyer the nozzles are in their lowermost posltions, the members of the bottle clamp, or the clamping jaws,-

are` separated and valves 179, 180 and 181 are closed. At the end of this movement pawl 39 engages a notch in ,lock plate 38, shafts 141 and 14:2 are rocked thereby raising the cleansing-timid heads, or permitting them to be raised by the weights 137, 138,

139 and 140, the rods 153, 15d, 155 and 156 follow up with the horizontal beams 122 and the bottles carriedV 128 under the influence of the weights 72v l 73, 74 and 7 5 and the fingers 102 and the centering and clamping cups 104% approach each *other until they contact with the bottles in line with them and stop. rllhe cleansing-fluid heads continue to rise and the nozzles enter the mouths of the bottles and the water and the compressed air is admitted to thev bottles through the nozzles or the length of time determined by the gearing proportions of the machine. When' the cleansing-duid' heads descend the horizontal bars or beams 122 and 123 engage with the nuts on the lowerends of the rods 153, 15d, i

i and '156 and elevate the weights 72, 73,

7d and 7 5 and separate the ngers 102 from the centering and clamping cups 104:, or

separate the jaws of the clamping mechanism. Assume that the machine as illustrated by the drawings is adjusted for washing quart bottles,I and it is desired to change the adjustments to wash smaller bottles, say pint bottles, the hand wheel 88 is turned to screwthe tie beams 86 and 87, upper cross beams l50, 51 and 52 and lingers 102 down to provide for the diderence in lengths of the bottles and screw 149 isv screwed out a sufcient distance to lessen. the litt ont the cleansing-fluid heads by the dierencebetween the lengths ot the bottles as will be readily understood.

What is claimed is: y

1. ln a bottle washing machine, the combination with upper and lower cross beams provided with yieldable ngers and cups, o1 an endless chain conveyer provided with bottle supports passing between said cross beams, movable cleansing Huid vheads provided with nozzles adapted to be reciprocated through said cups, connections, be= tween said cross beams to cause movements thereof 4simultaneously but in opposite directions, means to separate said cross beams actuated by power-.driven mechanismv of the machine and means not actuated by powerdriven mechanism of the machine to move said cross beams toward each other to clamp bottles therebetween. .p y t.

2. lln a bcttle washing machine, the combination with upper and lowercross beams provided with yieldable ngers and cups, ot an endless chain conveyer provided with bottle supports passing between said cross beams, movable cleansing uid heads provided with nozzles adapted to be reciprocated through said cups, connections between said cross beams to cause movements thereof simultaneously but in opposite directions, means to litt saidcleansing duid heads and nozzles, means providing a lost rae ' ing the bottles to pressure from ing the cross beams toward each other to clamp bottles therebetween without subjectpower-operated parts of the machine.

3. In a bottle washing machine9 the combination with standards provided at their upper ends with clutch members, means for revolving the standards, nozzles provided with clutch members adapted to engage vwith the clutch members of the standards, and yieldable means adapted to retain the clutch members in engagement'I and to permitI their disengagement. f

.4e yIn a bottle washing machine, the 4combination with a bottle conveyer and movable cleansing vHuid heads provided with washing nozzles, of means for raising and lowering said cleansing uid head, cross beams on opposite of the conveyer for clamping bottles, `means connecting said cross beams to cause them to movesimultaneously but in opposite directions weights for cansing said cross beams to approach each other and ,means operated in Yunison with the downward movements of the cleansinguid heads toiseparate said/cross beams from each other.

l5. In a bottle washingmachine, the combination with cleansing Huid heads provided' heads and means for preventing overcounterbalancing the cleansing'fluid heads. In witness whereof I hereto afix my signature in presence of btwo witnesses.

HENRY F. s'rooK.

Witnesses:

FRANK EDnNNn'rr, FRED PALM., Y 

